Alex Or Xander
by Zamairiac
Summary: Alex 'wakes up' and returns to the real Equestria. But Luna returns with him, refusing to give up her 'beloved' so easily. And so Alex is left with both the trauma of his two year torture, and the mare responsible forever whispering...ever there.
1. Chapter 1

**Well here's that sequel you've all been waiting for!**

**Not much else to say really, I think.**

**Begin!**

**Still A Nightmare!**

The mare…the nightmare, she walks to me, ever closer as the seconds pass by.

"_Stay away!"_

She cocks her head to the side, a curious, yet cold smile upon her face.

"_Why should I?"_

"_I'll…I'll hurt you, I'll kill you!"_

Laughter, soft and sensual escapes her. I can feel myself shake evermore as I realize that it's genuine.

"_Will you…no, no I don't believe you will. You're a man of many things, unique things now my love…but kill me? No, you lack to will to do so, and I'll prove it."_

She ignores my warnings, my threats and comes closer, her steps graceful and precise. Her eyes are locked onto mine, determination with a smile upon her muzzle.

"_Sta-I said stay back! Don't come any closer or I'll-"_

"_Kill me?"_ she laughs again, though this time I cannot miss the mockery within her tone._ "No you won't beloved. I'm walking ever closer and still you shake and splutter rather than take action. You lack conviction, you lack strength of mind. And as soon as we're done with this silly farce, I'll take you back home and teach you how; I'll make you strong in all that I already have not."_

Panic is rising within me as I back away, her cold eyes making me shake ever more. Could I do this, could I do want Ton requested and kill her?

I had nothing left, so what was it that made me stutter? Was it fear…

Her form now so close to mine it incites desperation, the deadly blade within my hand now pressed against my own neck, causing the Lunar mare to freeze in her tracks as her eyes widen in her own fear.

"_You'll stay back or you'll have nothing to take back but a corpse!"_

Eyes once so cold now so warm, so loving and calming, seemingly able to understand every woe ever to have befallen me. It makes me feel…

"_I know you fear me for what I have done to you…" _she says, soothing…so soothing. "_But can you not yet see, have you not yet found out just what I have done for you? Do you not feel strong; do you not feel powerful in ways you have yet to understand?"_

Confusion must be clear upon my face, for she smiles and…

"_My magical capabilities are yours now beloved. Can you not feel the energy? Can you not feel the power crying out for release? I can teach you how, I can help you become so much more than you already are…You are already nigh eternal, but I can make you eternally powerful."_

She edged ever closer between each word, each silky, sultry syllable that rode off her tongue. Her eyes were bright, loving still, ever loving and so soothing.

The blade shook in my grasp as I struggled to keep myself together, to not break down and weep bitter tears over all I'd lost…and what I felt compelled to accept.

"_Think of it Xander. You and I together, ruling the most powerful country in the world. Think of all we could do together, think of how many lives we can save, now that there is no weak heart left to abandon those desperate to be loved…like you."_

So close now, her wings touching the arm that held the blade so close, slowly, lovingly beginning to grasp and pull…

"_Did you think that I do not know, my love? Did you not think that somepony as cruel and torturous as I have been to you, could possibly understand just how much you need someone to hold you, to love you and remind you that you are never alone…"_

My arms stays firm…but weakens as her words, her gentle tugging, her tender and affectionate gaze witling down any reason I had left to say no…to end it all.

"_Don't you want me to do that for you now? Do you not want me to hold you close, to nuzzle your neck and let you weep all your sorrows against mine?"_

So…close…to…

She smiles.

"_Do you not want me to end this nightmare?"_

My grip slackens, the blade barely within my hand as…as…

_An endless chain…_

_An endless cycle…_

_An endless nightmare…_

_"What if I told you that there was a way to escape this endless nightmare?"_

…

And finally…I realize.

_This is just a nightmare._

Before weakness can take hold once again, I grasp the blade firmly and drag it quickly across my throat.

"_NO!"_

I feel nothing as the world around me dims…nothing except the constant gaze of Luna's slitted eyes tearing up.

Nothing except Luna's slitted…slitted…ey…e…

"**AWAKEN! THIS NIGHTMARE IS UNDONE!"**

"_I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!"_

…

The steady sound of beeping was the first thing I became aware of. It was a constant rhythm, on and on in tune with my breathing.

"Ugh…"

With considerable effort, I raised my left hand to my blurry eyes and rubbed them weakly, all but begging whatever deity I knew to bring the room into focus.

And gradually, eventually…it did.

"A…hospital?" I croaked, looking around as best I could at myself and my surroundings.

I was wearing what looked like a hospital gown. The room itself was pretty plain. The walls were a uniform grey and had nothing on them, not a picture or portrait in sight. The bed I was lying in was fairly simple, though bigger than what I had come to expect from the ponies. Apart from that, there wasn't much else of interest in…the…room.

My vision began to waver suddenly, abruptly. Darkness came and went as I grasped my head and clenched my teeth.

I…I could almost remember…a face. A beautiful face, warm, loving…yet with eyes so cruel, so harsh.

"_It is time for yet another session, my love."_

That word; session. The moment I heard it, felt it reverberate within my very soul…A fear unlike anything I'd known burst within me, enveloped me with its terrible caress as I opened my eyes and-

"_**Found you!"**_

A memory!

Fear! So much fear, and fear, and pain, and agony, unrepentant and unrelenting as it wove throughout my body, bringing scream after scream after-

"**AHHHH!"** a scream tore its way out of my mouth, shockingly causing the wall around me to crack and shake. Fear drove my actions as I ripped every cord and wire from my body and ran, weakness forgotten and long buried as _her_ giggling followed me out the door.

Pain, so much pain and hurt! Oh it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it HURT!

"**AGH!"** another scream, one of pain and fear intertwined ripped its way out of my throat as I ran.

Doors opened on either side as I did so, curious ponies sticking their heads out and blanching as they noticed me.

A cry followed, a voice shouting-

"Holy Celestia! It's him, somepony stop him and contact the Princesses at once!"

Hooves, many, many hooves behind me as I ran. I could hear them calling me, pleading with me to stop, to slow down and-

"_**Let them bring you to me, where you BELONG!"**_

All around me, yet right next to me. The voice, who it belonged to brought about more screams of utter terror, adrenaline filling my veins, forcing me to run evermore.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I cried, tears of absolute dread spilling down my face.

I barrelled through a door, a large door, a double door. It smashed apart as I did so, breaking into little pieces as I tripped and rolled, the only shred of hope lingering because of the sunlight hitting my form.

_I'm outside!_

Without warning I felt something slam into the back of me, forcing me to the ground and rolling me over. A pegasus, a mare pressing her entire weight on my chest as she clutched a needle with her right wing, a clear drip of the fluid within dropping to the ground.

"Just calm down sir!" she pleaded, struggling to move the needle closer as I grasped her wing. "This is only a sedative, it'll help you to calm _**down so I can take you back home!"**_

Her eyes shifted, becoming slitted and turquoise as her muzzle morphed into a terrifying grin.

"_**I do this for you! For US! YOU ARE MINE!"**_

The needle dripped…

"NO, DON'T PLEASE!"

I didn't think, I reacted, fear driving my every motion as my hand became shrouded in a dark blue mist, sweeping to the side as the mist enveloped _her_ and threw her away from me, the needle disintegrating on the spot.

I barely noticed the mare's shocked olive orbs as she flew high into the sky.

_How did I…_

Ignoring my thoughts, I scrambled to my feet and ran and ran, ponies of all sorts gaping at me in surprise. The mist was still surrounding my right hand, pulsating with what I knew to be power, driven by fear and desperation.

_How…_

I didn't know where to go, I just wanted to run and run, and then run again. I needed desperately to get away from _her_, the memories, the pain and terror…it was too much, TOO MUCH!

"_**Poor baby, MY poor baby. Come to me, let me heal your pain."**_

The voice, her voice, surrounding me, hounding me no matter how fast I ran.

"L-Leave me alone!" I pleaded, gasping for breath as I swallowed my own tears.

"_**It's for your protection beloved."**_

At the word, that word, another bout of horrible memories flash before my eyes. Protection meant hurt, protection meant pain.

_I can't go through that anymore!_

The air distorted as a crackle of magic struck behind me. I ignored it, I had too. I couldn't stay in one place, I had to run and run and run and-

"Alex stop!"

…

_That voice…_

As fast as I ran, I stopped on the spot and spun around to see…

_"It honestly surprises me that you haven't figured it out yet."_

_"Figured what out?"_

_"That despite what she's said, Luna does not take prisoners."_

Pink fur, magenta orbs so warm, mane reminding me of a lollypop long forgotten.

She hadn't aged a day.

"Cadey?" I whispered, hand reaching out, feet moving of their own violation as my tears continued to fall.

Her expression was…happy, so happy!

And yet as she broke into a wide smile and ran towards me…her eyes flickered, her smile became a smirk of utter insanity.

She was _her!_

"Stay away from me!" I screamed, lashing out with the mist instinctively and causing the ground ahead of her to crack and splinter.

Her eyes, now so lovely, so normal widened in shock and hurt.

"Alex," she uttered, her voice soft, safe…made me feel…safe. "It's me, it's Cadance. Don't you recognize me?"

She edged closer, words…her words so gentle. I felt my heart flutter in response.

"C-C-Cadance?" I stuttered, body shaking, breath ragged.

"Yes honey, it's me," she cooed soothingly, nearing me, her wings reaching out to touch my cheeks. "I want you to calm down and relax for me. Everything is okay now, I'm here now, nothing will hurt you anymore."

My lips trembled, fear and desperation driving it to do so. I was so afraid, everything was her, everything! But Cadance…I wanted her to be herself! I wanted her to hold me…

"_**And…we…will!"**_

Eyes, flashing turquoise, mad grin!

"Get away!"

I fell back out of sheer instinct, scrambling away from the worried mare.

"What's wrong baby?!" she asked, neigh, cried. Her voice was as desperate as I felt, her body struggling with the urge to rush forward and…and…

_How do I know that?_

"_**Because I made it so."**_

Gasping, I clutched at my head and let out pained, horrid wheezes.

"S-She's whispering to me," I whimpered. "She tells me to go back with her, that I belong with her, but something's wrong, WRONG!"

"Who's whispering, Alex?" Cadance pleaded, her tone, her voice urgent, desperate to rid me of my pain. "Who's _**taking what's rightfully hers!"**_

I clutched my head harder, very real pain flittering across as I shook it viciously, franticly trying to rid myself of her voice as I screamed and screamed and screamed-

And stopped.

It was as if every noise in the world had ceased to be. There was naught except the gentle caress of…something surrounding me, enveloping everything that I was.

My eyes, wet and…sticky, my vision tinted ever so slightly crimson…the scent of copper below my nose.

And her eyes, her real eyes weeping with me, a gentle pink glow around her horn…and us.

"You don't belong to anyone but me, Alex," Cadance soothed, reaching forward and gently, lovingly licking away the crimson fluid. "And I belong to you. We belong to each other, and nopony, not a one will ever change that but us."

"_**We'll see about that…"**_

"She won't stop talking," I sobbed weakly. "I tried to escape her, but she found me."

"Who found you?" she asked, hurt and concerned.

"I…she's-"

"_**Will you tell her, beloved? Can you?"**_

I grasped my head and shook…

"Alex please!"

…only to snap back up and see Cadance's desperate eyes.

"She won't let me tell you," I whispered, shaking my head without reason. "I c-can't, I can't."

"_**Such a devoted mate, hehehe."**_

The air distorted…

Cadance opened her muzzle to say…something, only to suddenly look behind me and smile thankfully. Confusion dominated my thoughts, unsure, unknowing of what could bring about such a grateful smile.

A weight feel upon my shoulder, warm breath soothing away my shakes bit by bit.

…

"Hush now baby," said…a voice, a maternal voice. "I'm here now. It's going to be alright."

_That voice…_

Confused and nigh inconsolable, I shakily turned my head to the right and looked into a pair of rose coloured orbs.

And a smile just for me.

White wings enveloped me, held me tightly, yet comfortably. A golden glow replaced the pink, shortly followed by an immense feeling of safety and warmth.

"Mom?" I croaked, new tears slipping down my face as I stared at hers.

Her smile, tender and affectionate, widened at the word.

"Yes sweetie," she crooned. "It's me."

Cadance, Celestia...Mate, mother…

Too much…

It was too much.

"Mom…"

I threw myself at her and held on as tightly as I could. I instantly felt her wings tighten and pull me ever closer, her muzzle nuzzling my neck lovingly.

I couldn't stop crying…I didn't care how like a _child_ I sounded.

"I…_hurt_, mom," I whimpered. "I'm really scared, I'm s-so scared!"

"Shhh" she hushed, another muzzle kissing, touching my right cheek. "It's okay now, I'm here. Mommy's here. I won't let anything hurt you."

Her muzzle, the other muzzle, both soothed me, calmed my shakes if only a little. Their words, the loving, tender tone in which they were spoke became enough.

Enough for me to pull back, if only a little

And see slitted orbs, turquoise, gleaming down at me.

"What's the matter Alex?" Mom asked, her white fur changing, a dark blue overlapping it. "It's_** time for another session."**_

Fear, pain, so much!

"_**My love…"**_

Gold changed to blue.

Screaming…

_**Well there you go!**_

_**Till the next chapter. I don't know how long they'll be, but I do consider this a sort of opening. So maybe they'll be around 5000 again.**_

_**Probably.**_

_**Cya, stay snuggly!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Watched a bit of Doctor Who, got inspired and voila!**

**Bet you didn't expect me to update it this quickly, huh?**

**Begin!**

**You're Just A Parasite!**

**Cadance Pov**

"GRAHHHH!"

The roar that left my lover's mouth shook not only myself, but the very walls and ground around me. The windows splintered and cracked, some completely shattered.

This was all second notice mind you. I was far too busy struggling to keep him still as ponies around me attempted to strap him to a stone bed. My own pink aura was mixed with Celestia's brilliant gold, but as they flickered and died, only to reappear and struggle once more, any awe I might have had vanished very quickly.

A young Pegasus, a doctor, ran up to Alex and attempted to keep him down with his body, gritting his teeth as he was shook and nearly thrown off of him.

"SIR! You need to calm down, we're not going to hurt you, we're only trying to hel-SHIT!"

My focus over my magic nearly died as I witnessed a stream of purple fire escape Alex's mouth, almost washing over the Pegasus as he dived to one side.

"Somepony get over here and help me hold him down!" he yelled, three stallions and a mare of the guard obeying as they each clung to a part of his upper body. Chest, arm, shoulders, all was held steady as can be as two doctor's frantically attempted to tie his limbs in restraints.

"AH THE PAIN!" the cry escaping my mate's muzzle tore at my heart. "Someone stop the p-p-p-AHAHAHAHA!"

Bloody tears began to leak from his eyes, more dribbling from his nostrils. His entire body was shaking with such a force, that I thought with no uncertainty it would fall apart.

When foam began to form inside his mouth however, that's when I lost all remnants of self-control and screamed to the high heavens.

"SOMEPONY HELP HIM!" I cried, desperate tears, fearful tears falling down my face as my magic flickered and died.

"We need a sedative, now!" my aunty ordered, her own voice powerful and authorative despite the distress clear in her expression.

A mare in a lab coat seemed to burst into the room at our calls, a syringe hovering in her aura as she raced over to my poor Alex. As if knowing what was to happen, my baby snapped his eyes…his terrible, slitted eyes onto the mare and grinned a mad, foaming, _malicious _grin.

The syringe wielding mare froze on the spot.

"Can you HURT him?!" the voice that escaped his mouth was _not_ my beloved. It was too cruel, too insane to be of kin to one of humour and sarcasm. "Will YOU?!"

A righteous fury burst from within me at this…this THING. My instinct, my own inner power rose up within me, empowering my confidence, my lover for the man weeping as this horrible being grinned through him.

"Get out of him!" I screamed, my eyes alight with power long unfelt.

The _thing_ cackled madly though its insanity, foam dribbling from my lover's mouth and onto his ripped gown.

"Why should we!" it laughed, body shaking from convulsions and sick humour. "He is mine! You have no say, mate thief!"

_Mate thief?_

The thought comes as quickly as my rage erases it, taking control of my actions as I push away the stallion atop his chest and lay myself atop him, baring my teeth viciously as I grasped my poor baby's head and stared right through his eyes at the…malevolent being inside him.

"No," I whisper, the word barely forming through my fury. "He is _mine_, my mate, my lover. Whoever…whatever you are, YOU have no say. YOU will leave my Alex alone, or I will drive you out of him and _rip you apart_,"

The grin on his face, the grin not his own only seemed to widen at my declaration.

"On your own?" it chuckled, a gleam shining through Alex's eyes. "You are a _child_, fighting against those so much greater than yourself. Do you truly believe that you can separate us, alone?"

I make to growl out a respond, but before I can do so, a very quiet, very _furious_ voice beats me to it.

"She won't be alone," Celestia utters, her rose colored eyes now a very bleak shade of grey, flickering between that and pure white. "You have invaded my son's body, violating both it and his mind in the process. No, she won't be alone. I will _rip_ _you_ from my little colt's body and banish you into the endless void for what you've done to him."

My aunty waved away the doctor's, the frozen mare following suit a mere moment after she was released from whatever had taken hold of her. The mare of the guard however, stayed.

"Will you now?" it spoke, surprisingly lacking in any emotion. "The endless void, is it? Was the moon not good enough for me sister?"

"Sister?" I echo, glancing back at my aunty and taking note of her shocked expression.

"Luna?" Celestia whispered, her horn lighting up as she aimed it in the direction of a shattered window.

"Did she not tell you, foal?" it...or Luna laughed, quickly recapturing my attention. "I found him before you even existed. He loved me, and I him. But dear Celly couldn't handle the idea of her 'baby sister' loving more than just her. So she took my beloved Xander from me, and banished me when I tried to bring him back!"

These were words my aunty had more or less told me before, but to hear them from the apparent mare herself was…still surprising. Though what was more were the very words to escape Celestia muzzle not a moment later.

"Do you still have that blanket with the half-moon emblem, Cadance?" she asked me, her eyes narrowed in undeniable anger.

"I-I think so," I replied, the pure light of my eyes dying down to normality as I climbed off of my lover. "It's under my…our bed."

Celestia nodded to the mare of the guard straight away, said mare apparently understanding what was to be done as she sprinted out of the door.

"Aunty?"

"It's alright Cadance," she said, tone as soothing as could be in that particular moment. "I believe I know what has happened to Alex."

Before I could inquire as to what, the guard returned with the familiar blanket from…our picnic some time ago, and laid it out before Celestia. My aunt took no time in…what I believe to be scanning it as she ran the tip of her horn over it.

"What do you seek to accomplish here sister?" Luna demanded, spittle flying from her…Alex's mouth. "There is NAUGHT in that blanket that can separate us again!"

"I thought so," Celestia muttered, ignoring the loud voice as she rose and regarded it…with an expression so cold that frightened me.

"You thought what, sister?" Luna spat, paying me not so much as a glance. "That you can finally see beyond your own reflection?"

Celestia didn't answer the jeer, choosing merely to keep up the icy expression.

"Celestia?" I spoke, almost flinching as her expression snapped onto me…before thankfully warming up a touch.

"Apologies my dear," she replied, smiling a small smile. "Allow me to explain, if you will?"

I nodded slowly as she came closer, looking at my beloved as gestured towards him.

"You," she spoke, a shocking amount of venom in her voice as she glared at those slitted eyes. "Are nothing but a powerful echo of my sister. A parasite, clinging to his life force to stay alive."

'Luna' sneered at my auntie's explanation and shook my honey's head.

"I am no pale reflection!" she snapped. "I love him as much as the day we first made love. I remember each touch, each wondrous sensation. And I have made him powerful, I have given him magic most mortals could only dream of having!"

"We are not Gods," Celestia refuted. "And I never named you weak, I can sense the power you foolishly, cruelly forced into his very soul. Do you truly believe that one who once defied all magic could grasp the fundamentals of controlling it?"

"I will teach him how," _Luna_ growled…oh by the gods, the loving, sickening smile that crossed my lover's face. "As I was planning on doing before he killed himself and returned to reality."

"He _killed_ _himself_?!" I screeched, wings flaring in horror and fury, Celestia's sudden hoof and shake of her head the only thing stopping me from…doing something!

"Just like I told you Cadance," she soothed, left eye twitching ever so slightly. "Only an echo, with none of the compassion or _sanity_ my sister had."

She looked back at 'Luna' and regarded her, once more, with an icy expression.

"I remember Luna's joy when she befriended Xander," she continued. "I remember the love in her eyes that I unthinkingly believed was because of me. And I remember how she glowed when she told me of her plans to share her divinity with him.

"I do not know what you did to make my child so afraid, but you…you are only a frail image. And once I find the correct spell to do so, I will banish you to the darkest corners of this world. Where nopony will ever hear you scream…"

_Aunty…_

It's moment's like these that remind me just how much Celestia loves Alex. And if my instinct, our Alicorn instinct reacts when the one we love is in danger, then how my poor aunty is managing to hold her own back after I all but let mine flare to the surface is beyond me…

Her self-control is awe inspiring.

'Luna' narrows Alex's eyes at my aunt and sneers defiantly…before the body she inhabits goes limp very quickly.

Said eyes returning to the green I love so much.

Unable to restrain myself, I rushed forward and grasped his face as gently as I could, his eyes completely unfocused as I looked into them.

"Alex, honey!" I spout, panicking as I get no response. "Baby please wake up! It's me!"

I make to press my lips to his, only for a golden barrier to come between us. Unthinking, I snarl at the perpetrator and flare my wings in an instinctive show of protective dominance.

Only to realize that my aunty is the one I'm 'protecting' Alex from.

"What…what are you doing, aunty?" I ask…demand.

"Protecting you from the parasite," she explains, eyes narrowed yet worried. "Do you remember what you told me about before this all started? That something left you and latched onto Alex?"

Blinking somewhat dumbly, I open and close my muzzle several times, glancing back at my little snuggle honey and trembling at Celestia's implications.

"A-Are you saying that I c-can't even…"

Sadly, she shakes her head and comes a touch closer, eyes and tone firm as she says…

"No Cadance…you can't kiss him," she affirms quietly. "In fact until I've found the spell to banish the remnant of my sister, I would strongly advise that you limit how much you touch him without me here."

"I can't even comfort him?" I whisper, my eyes filling with tears as I feel my body try to defy this order.

"Not without me here," she says once again. "If the parasite latches onto you without me here to protect you, then there would be nothing to stop it from killing you and returning to Alex."

_Of course…Luna 'found him first' and I'm just the mare that stole him._

I didn't believe it, I didn't believe it for a second. Alex was my mate, no one else's.

And the fact that I couldn't comfort him…the way, the amount in which it hurt me was…astronomical.

"I don't care about myself, aunty," I growled, gritting my teeth as I fought off angry tears and looked up at her. "I just want…no, I _need_ to hold him…please…"

Aunty looked down at me, pained. Her muzzle was scrunched up, frustrated and angry at my pain…I could feel it.

And after a few moments of apparent contemplation, she looked over at my Alex and lit up her horn, his entire body soon following.

"Be quick," she said, her breath shockingly ragged as she gestured over to him. "I'm projecting myself onto him, no dark reflection can pass this kind of magic easily."

"Soul magic," I whispered, more to myself than her, though she nodded nonetheless.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I clambered onto the stone bed and gently laid myself atop my lover, reaching down with my muzzle and-

"No!" Celestia gasped, shaking her head rapidly. "Soul magic…might not be enough for that. Just…only touch…might break through with lip contact…it's an ancient magic of its own...could take advantage and…"

Fighting off evident fatigue, my aunty closed her eyes and kept up her slowly spluttering horn, tears slipping down her face, though from exhaustion or morose depression I couldn't tell.

Whimpering quietly at the denial, I leaned down to my lover's face and…kissed his forehead with as much love as I could possibly give, before moving back and burying my face under his bloodied chin.

The simple familiarity of his scent being defiled by coppery blood was enough to almost break me down. That such _wrongness_ could mix with something so beautiful was horrifying.

"C-Cadance…"

Body shaking as I willed myself to move, I removed myself from the familiar comfort of his heat and backed over to Celestia. The mare in question let go of the exhausting magic and almost collapsed on the spot, but with sheer determination somehow managed to stay upright.

But as for me…I couldn't stop myself from burying my face in her chest and finally wept bitter tears as I broke down.

It had been a month since my beloved collapsed. A month in which I was completely alone…unable to touch him while the doctor's tried to figure out what was wrong.

I could do nought but sing…and hope he heard it somehow.

"I will save him Cadance," Celestia soothed, nuzzling and kissing my head tenderly. "I promise, just try to hold on. Then we can both snuggle him back into the hospital, okay?"

I chuckled weakly at her little joke, but appreciated it all the same and nodded.

"I've never seen him so scared before," I mumbled sadly. "It frightened me."

"I know sweetie," Aunty sighed, looking over at her son. "It frightened me too."

**Done.**

**Short, but it's all I could really think to write for this particular part. I don't expect this story to be long, but I know it'll have just the right amount of drama and fluff to keep you guys appeased.**

**Til the next chapter!**

**Cya, stay snuggly!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Well here's chapter three. This will be the final chapter, as opposed to the original four I had planned. Turns out that all I wanted to put in this fic was right here. Characters are developed a little more, questions get answered…a bit, and of course the cliffhanger is there to piss you all off**_

_**So let's get started XD**_

_**Begin!**_

_**Alex Or...**_

**Alex Pov**

I was floating amongst an endless sea of darkness, flashes of…memories, I believe, slowly flying past be, below me, above me, around me.

I couldn't hear much, only glimpses of what was.

"_And a one, and a two, and a three, four, five! Oh yeah! Cadance remains the grand champion of EVERYTHING to do with arcade!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I swear I've played this before…hmm, let's try Pac-Mare over there."_

"_Alllllrighty! But I'm gonna whoop your flank at that too!"_

"_You take this stuff way too seriously."_

"_And you don't. Lighten up a little, we've only got a little while before Aunty steals you for an afternoon cuddle."_

"_Shut up Cadey."_

"_Beat me at this and maybe I will." _

I can see that memory, see how young we looked, how happy and…not together, not yet, not then.

But that grin on her muzzle…ahh that grin. So cheeky, so confident and cocky. There was the Cadance that I love…came to love.

Another memory flashes right in front of me, steadying, slowing as I look at it and see…

_Griffonia…this is just before I was about to die. Mom…she…_

I feel the memory surround myself, the past me, the young, fifteen year old Alex merging with me. I can feel words escaping my mouth, words I'd already spoken, words that I…

"I d-don't feel well…"I whimpered, a sharp, ragged cough ripping through my throat, blood splattering over the table as I fall to the floor and begin to convulse.

"Alex!"Celestia cried, rushing over and cradling my shaking form to her barrel, uncaring of the blood now beginning to coat it. "GUARDS, GUARDS!"

No one came; no one headed the calls of a desperate mare…a desperate mother. And through my blurred, tear filled eyes; I could see that desperation twisting into something…dark.

"No one is coming, Princess," came a silky, smug voice from behind her, causing Celestia's head to turn sharply, myself still cradled in her hooves, heaving, gasping for breath.

A few moments pass us by, during which I could practically see the gears turning inside her head.

"You did this," she said, voice quiet and calm…a deadly calm.

"I did," chuckled the griffon, his feathers ruffling in amusement as Celestia put me down and rose swiftly. "Ah, ah, ah! You attack me and the treaty will break. And you don't want something so…drastic to happen now do you?"

Celestia was silent, completely. As for me, I could feel my life fading away…slowly.

"You can cure him?" she asked suddenly.

"I can," he drawled slyly. "But…first I would have something of yours. Two things really, small things."

"Such as?"

Dying though I was, I could _hear_ the perverse nature in his tone…It made me feel sick, ironically.

"First, I would have your complete support with the upcoming election," he explained mirthfully. "And second, well. I would be a fool to deny your beauty. So perchance a night with you…or several."

A gargle of unintelligible words attempt to leave my lips, drawing Celestia's eyes back onto me.

Oh those eyes…so warm, yet cold. Flickering a demonic green, black smoke barely escaping the edges.

"You know the cure?" she asked once more.

The griffon sighed dramatically and growled in apparent frustration.

"_Yes_ I know the cure, but you're not obtaining it unless you do what I-HCK!"

I watched through unfocused eyes as the mare that comforted me at night, who lulled me back to sleep with her warmth, yank the griffon towards her harshly, choking him in mid-air.

"You were a fool to think you could get away with this," Celestia hissed, her voice completely unnatural, demonic. "To think that _you_ could play with my baby's life, to think that your _treaty_ meant more to me than my **SON'S LIFE!** **I'LL BURN YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND PROLONG YOUR SCREAMS**-"

"_**LIES! SHE NEVER CARED FOR YOU! SHE HATED YOU, SHE HATED US!"**_

I blinked…and found the memory I'd been reliving gone. Once more I was surrounded by other memories and darkness, but along with it were a pair of massive turquoise orbs, gazing down at me with as much anger as there was love.

The fear I'd known so well through the past two years quickly began to overwhelm me, my breath becoming short and shallow, every thought demanding that I run, that I get away from she who _tortured me_.

"_**Sister never loved us, she hated our love!"**_ she yelled furiously._** "She couldn't stand to see her baby sister defiled by an UNWORTHY being, so she sent you away and banished me in my grief."**_

A tight hold, a loving hold, a…warm hold enveloped me, those eyes shrinking, a body, her body forming around it in but a few moments.

And there she stood before me, wings around me, her eyes sad, muzzle contorted in a unhappy grimace as I tried and failed to move away, to run and escape the mad…_thing_ that loved me.

"_**Oh…my love,"**_ she crooned, eyes lidding as she continued to gaze softly into my own. _**"There's nothing to fear anymore. No more pain, no more of me left to meld into your soul. Now…it is time for us to leave."**_

"I'm n-not leaving C-Cadance," I stammered, shaking terribly as she pressed us closer together, eyes changing not a bit from their warm…loving…

"_**You don't need her anymore beloved,"**_ Luna cooed tenderly. _**"It is I who will comfort you, who will protect you, who will teach you, show you everything wonderful with the world…not Cadance."**_

She moved her muzzle close to my mouth and nuzzled it soothingly, a smile of my own all but forcing its way onto my face.

Oh I was terrified…and yet being with her made me feel…so happy.

"_**Sister was correct about one thing though,"**_ she sighed sadly…before perking up just as quickly, a half insane grin on her muzzle. _**"I am only a remnant of what Luna truly is, but now I have the means to make us whole again. I can…no, I will become one with her, and together…we will be mated for life once again."**_

No hesitation, no warning as she pressed her lips to mine, ignoring the way I tried…I tried to try…and…

"_**There will be no royalty, no duties, no responsibility besides caring for each other,"**_ her words were slow, deep and sultry. I felt my body relax against my will…and buried my face in her neck. "_**We will be beautiful and we will have such a beautiful life. Just you and I Xander…just you and I forever…and no other mare than myself to love you."**_

A speck of golden light materialized behind Luna, growing steadily…but she didn't seem to notice. No, for as her lips touched the side of my neck, the world warped and fluctuated around me, gold unseen grew as darkness fought against it.

I knew who it was.

"_Mom…"_

…

**Cadance Pov**

I'd woken up alone…again. I suppose I should have been at least a little bit used to it by then. I'd been without my little snuggle honey for well over a week after all.

Showering without him next to me wasn't any less difficult. I admit that I'd come to rely on his constant comfort…his constant love to keep me strong, to keep the world bright.

Without him in it, it all just looked so…bleak.

_Come on Cadance, grow up! _I silently chastised myself._ You're feeling sorry for yourself when your mate is strapped to a stone bed…alone, and with that…that THING inside his head._

No, it was time to grow up and stop with the self-pity. My beloved needed his mate by his side, and I was never going to deny him.

Once I was thoroughly clean and ready, I left my chambers and all but stormed down to the bizarre chamber in which Alex was held. Celestia wouldn't tell me what it was for or why Alex had to be in it, but I knew my Aunty well enough to understand that this was something I wasn't ready for yet.

Maybe one day, but not any day soon.

The door was guarded by a pair of the usual guard, not a single difference in eithers' appearance. They took a look at me as I was to enter, a look, their emotions…all of that which all but screamed at me to stop, to go away and leave Alex to the devices of whoever was inside.

They were loyal, but so was I. And my loyalty to my mate outshone whatever pathetic dregs of devotion they carried!

…_Relax Cadance…they're just doing their job._

With nought but a cautionary glare at the two, I ignored them and entered the chambers confidently.

My baby was still strapped down to the stone, symbol engraved bed. But this time he was also connected up to a heart monitor…and something else I didn't recognize. Medical subjects were definitely not my area.

The monitor beeped steadily, strongly. Each one made me feel…relief.

Celestia was inside, her horn alight as wave after wave of magic I knew not swam throughout the room. I could feel it enter me, effortlessly brushing aside whatever defences I subconsciously held with but a warm, gentle push.

It felt…lovely, like the soothing kiss a mother gave to a skinned hoof.

The soft eyes and gentle expression upon her face as she gazed down at my dozing lover all but accentuated this…and confirmed what was but a lingering doubt in my mind.

_Celestia really thinks herself your mother my love…I can feel it, feel her. Ohh…and she loves you with all her heart and soul._

"Can I…help?"

She shook her head almost instantly, the familiar _'You're not ready'_ look already on her face.

_I just want to make my mate better…I just want to…_

"The magic I'm using is too much for you to handle right now," she explained softly, not once looking at me as her eyes remained locked on my beloved. "Pure solar magic is the lightest of all magic's, but it's very dangerous in the wrong hooves. Thankfully I know how to use it quite well, and I could find no _cure_ better than a constant stream…it is the only remedy to such dark magic, and dark spirits."

"It's a spirit?" I asked.

"Somewhat. Perhaps the better term would be a dark echo, a pale reflection of the being it used to be." she clarified, her eyes hardening slightly as she continued. "Unfortunately nothing about my sister was ever weak. This echo is powerful, powerful enough to give Alex magic as potent as any an alicorn."

Yes…I forgot about that. His immunity was gone now, replaced by the magic it once repelled. A good…and bad thing.

"How can Alex be this…Xander?" I asked, confused and upset all at once. "Alex is Alex, how can this _thing_ mistake that?"

Celestia smiled sadly and for the first time in a long while, shrugged.

"Insanity can twist any mind given enough of a reason," she sighed. "Maybe it believes Alex to be him because they are perchance the same type of being. Or perhaps the alternative is simply too unbearable to think about."

She turned to me and gave me a look…I'll never forget. One of utmost sadness…and understanding.

"Love can make a pony do terrible things, Cadance," she said, her tone dangerously low. "Ponies have died for reasons so simple as trying to impress the one they desired, even knowing that they would never return their feelings. I knew that once…I knew ponies who believed they loved me, and used it to further my own selfish needs."

"When you were younger?" I inquired, frowning sadly at auntie's steadily depressing emotions.

"When I was unable to see past my own reflection, yes," she muttered, shaking her head slowly. "It was right you know…when it said that. I was cruel as a young mare, arrogant in my power and the way my subjects adored it. They didn't even know who I was."

"You were…" I couldn't bear to finish.

"Oh, I've taken lives before Cadance," she said darkly. "Poison in a drink for a foreign king, a dagger in the back to those who saw the truth...families butchered in their homes by those who thought I'd _reward them for it_."

I didn't like the self-hating smirk on her muzzle…not one bit.

"But then as the years flew by…I got worse, I got cunning, clever," she chuckled dryly, glancing back at Alex briefly. "It was easy, manipulating others into taking their own lives in my name. Saying that I loved them, that their pain inflicted because of me only made me love them ever more…and then watching on, laughing silently as they did so with the belief that I felt _anything_ resembling pride and love to their sacrifice."

The solar magic flickered around us briefly, but she didn't seem to notice, her eyes closed…a tear down her face.

"Sometimes I think an Alicorn lives too long."

_Aunty…_

I always knew she regretted her past, I could feel disgust whenever she mentioned herself in it. But to still think that way about herself today…

I refused to let do it.

…

"You're wrong Aunty," I spoke quietly, drawing her nigh defeated face to my own. "Maybe you were like that once…a _long_ time ago. But ponies change…everyone changes as time goes on. I remember being shy and naïve before I met Alex. I remember only having wings before I turned thirteen, living on the streets with _nothing_ before you found me…and guided me to understand love."

Confidence flooding through me, I strode over to my adorably confused Aunty and nuzzled her neck lovingly.

"But look at what you did," I cooed happily, waving my right hoof around the room dramatically…to make her smile if nothing else. "You took me as your niece and raised me from then on, you found and soothed a scared child not from our world…and welcomed him into your heart with open hooves."

I stepped back slightly and smiled affectionately, said smile getting steadily wider as did her own.

"And you gave me the confidence to tell Alex I love him," I exclaimed cheerfully, the solar magic brightening ever more with every second. "Celestia, you are a _wonderful_ pony and so much more than just an aunt to me."

Her head titled slightly as tears welled up in her eyes, a truly beautiful smile adorning her muzzle as her horn SHONE!

"You're a mother to both of us, aunty," I giggled, choking on emotion. "The past doesn't define who you are. What you do now and who you are today does! And right now…Alex needs his mother as much as he needs me. So…let us heal him together, and drive out this _parasite_."

I held out my hoof and laughed as she took it, allowing herself to be pulled to her hooves. This unfortunately left myself open to be pulled in return…and pull she did as I quickly found my face buried in her chest.

She nuzzled and kissed the top of my head lovingly, laughing so beautifully all the while.

"You'll be a fantastic ruler one day, Cadance," she praised happily. "With inspiration like that, I'll soon be left quite behind you in the polls."

"Polls?"

"For best Princess in the world," she exclaimed heartily.

"Oh, shut up," I batted away…or tried too, her nuzzling was really getting ticklish. "I'd never leave you behind, royalty stays strong when united-"

"And not apart," she finished proudly. "But never forget that we are family first-"

"And royalty second," I completed, giggling at the now very ticklish nuzzling.

She pulled herself back and regarded me with such…pride that it made me practically inflate with cheer.

"You are the daughter I have always wanted," she crooned. "And if you will it…I shall with no hesitation take up the responsibility of a mother for you."

"You've always been a mother to me," I replied, lips trembling with emotion. "A title just makes it official."

_Oh…the love…_

Without any doubt, without any second thoughts…we crossed our horns and united our magic. Her solar melded with my love, pure gold mixing with amorous pink.

The feeling I was _flooded_ with was indescribable. A mother's love, a mate's love…flowing throughout the room for but a few moments…before we both forced it into Alex's very soul.

The mixture of color seemed to slowly encase his sleeping body, his breathing becoming ragged with every second as if…as if in pain.

His eyes…no, those terrible slitted eyes opened sharply, a horrible, rasping breath escaping his shuddering form as he…as IT looked right at me and-

"**N-NO! I WON'T…LET HIM…GO…AGAIN!"**

An almighty explosion of raw, terrified magic overpowered us. A familiar instinct within forcing me to grit my teeth and growl at it sensed another…and another.

I could just about see the demonic, shadowy orbs to my left.

…

…

…

"Cadance…" whispered a tiny voice, a weak, so, so weak voice.

I felt my instinct vanish as quickly as it came.

"Alex!" I cried, running over to my beloved, my right wing instinctively reaching out and touching-

"**Foal…"**

Another impressive explosion of magic forced me to cover my eyes, shielding them until the light vanished and…

"Impossible," Celestia whispered. "His magic was drained to a minuscule amount…how?"

"I touched him," I whispered, shame flooding away any of my previous cheer. "I didn't think, I didn't…I just wanted to…"

_I released that thing into the world…oh what have I done!_

…

**Alex Pov**

I blinked blearily as I opened my eyes, limbs struggling and straining with bizarre fatigue as I just about managed to lay back against a…wall?

"Where am I?" I muttered feebly, attempting to stand and failing instantly as my legs collapsed. "Ugh! Why do I feel so…tired?"

For a reason I couldn't quite…understand, I looked up out of the cave and to the bright moon. Upon it was the face I knew too well, the face of the mare in the moon.

The one that…hadn't tortured me…or maybe had…

I didn't know…I didn't want to think about it.

All of a sudden, a horrible, retching sensation forced me to cough violently. To my further horror however, whatever did so refused to let my sight leave the moon…I…I couldn't move at all!

"W-What's…going…**OOAHHHHH!"**

A toxic, smoky looking substance all but erupted from my mouth and eyes. My body wouldn't move, my thoughts were paralyzed…I couldn't think.

_**Together...**_

_That voice._

Another bout of horrible torment escaped me, causing my body to shake wildly as I screamed in agony.

_**When…**_

The pain was unbearable.

_**I…**_

I wanted to throw up.

_**Find…**_

On and on, so much like so recent hurt.

_**You…**_

The moon flashed, the face upon it melting away.

_**Again…**_

The face was no more…the moon was bare early.

_**My beloved Xander…**_

And as the darkness took me…the visage of a demon flew towards me at speeds unknown to this world.

My eyes closed…with nought but a toothy smile, a true, _sane_, loving smile filling up what was left of my vision.

"My beloved Xander," crooned a deep…yet lovely voice. "You've waited so long…and I have returned to you. Your true and only mate is here."

Comfortable, warm…enveloped my body…and I…

"And she will take care of you."

…

_**And done!**_

_**Confusion rises, questions remain unanswered and I'm still a cliffhanging dick!**_

_**If you honestly can't wait for the next in the series, then…well, give me SHOUT and I'll know to get cracking right away!**_

_**Or just give me pictures of a seductive Nightmare Moon, you know, for the next story. (Not my stash or anything...honest!)**_

_**Cya, stay snuggly!**_


End file.
